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It was odd to have summoned him in that way, and then forgotten him;
她那样子召他前来，然后又把他忘掉，真是好生奇怪。
but Archer felt more curious than mortified.
但阿切尔的好奇心却超过了窘迫。
The atmosphere of the room was so different from any he had ever breathed that self-consciousness vanished in the sense of adventure.
屋子里的气氛是他从未经验过的，这种差异非常之大，以致他的局促不安已为历险的意识所取代。
He had been before in drawing-rooms hung with red damask, with pictures "of the Italian school";
他以前也曾进过挂着红锦缎和“意大利派”绘画的客厅；
what struck him was the way in which Medora Manson's shabby hired house, with its blighted background of pampas grass and Rogers statuettes,
使他深受触动的是，梅多拉·曼森租住的这个以蒲苇和罗杰斯小雕像为背景的寒怆住宅，
had, by a turn of the hand, and the skilful use of a few properties, been transformed into something intimate, "foreign,"
通过巧用几件道具，转手之间竟改造成一个具有“异国”风味的亲切场所，
subtly suggestive of old romantic scenes and sentiments.
令人联想起古老的浪漫情调与场面。
He tried to analyse the trick, to find a clue to it in the way the chairs and tables were grouped,
他想分析其中的窍门，找到它的线索——从桌椅布置的方式中，
in the fact that only two Jacqueminot roses (of which nobody ever bought less than a dozen) had been placed in the slender vase at his elbow,
从身边雅致的花瓶只放了两支红玫瑰的事实中（而任何人一次购买都不少于一打），
and in the vague pervading perfume that was not what one put on handkerchiefs,
从隐约弥漫的香气中——不是人们撒到手帕上的那一种，
but rather like the scent of some far-off bazaar, a smell made up of Turkish coffee and ambergris and dried roses.
而更像从遥远的集市上飘来的，由土耳其咖啡、龙涎香和于玫瑰花配成的那种香味。
His mind wandered away to the question of what May's drawing-room would look like.
他的心思又转到梅的客厅上。她的客厅将会是什么样子呢？
He knew that Mr. Welland, who was behaving "very handsomely," already had his eye on a newly built house in East Thirty-ninth Street.
他知道韦兰先生表现“十分慷慨”，已经盯上了东39街一所新建住宅。
The neighbourhood was thought remote,
据说，那个街区很僻静，
and the house was built in a ghastly greenish-yellow stone that the younger architects were beginning to employ
房子是用灰蒙蒙的黄绿色石头建的，这种色调是年轻一代的建筑师刚开始启用的，
as a protest against the brownstone of which the uniform hue coated New York like a cold chocolate sauce;
用以对抗像冷巧克力酱一般覆盖着纽约的清一色的棕石，
but the plumbing was perfect.
但房子的管道却十分完备。
Archer would have liked to travel, to put off the housing question;
按阿切尔的心愿，他喜欢先去旅行，住宅的问题以后再考虑。
but, though the Wellands approved of an extended European honeymoon (perhaps even a winter in Egypt),
然而，尽管韦兰夫妇同意延长去欧洲度蜜月的时间（也许还可到埃及呆一个冬天），
they were firm as to the need of a house for the returning couple.
但对于小夫妻回来后需要一所住宅的问题坚定不移。
The young man felt that his fate was sealed:
年轻人觉得自己的命运像加了封印似的已成定局：
for the rest of his life he would go up every evening between the cast-iron railings of that greenish-yellow doorstep,
在他的余生中，每天晚上都要走过那个黄绿色门阶两旁的铸铁护栏，
and pass through a Pompeian vestibule into a hall with a wainscoting of varnished yellow wood.
穿过庞贝城式的回廊，进入带上光黄木护壁的门厅。
But beyond that his imagination could not travel.
除此之外，他的想像力就无从驰骋了。
